Smart Business Magazine, Sept 2012

September 2012 Smart Business Florida 7 THE BEST BANG THEORY How to analyze certain factors to see if your marketing offers all that it should According to Wikipedia bang for the buck is an idiom meaning the worth of ones money or exertion The phrase originated from the slang usage of the words bang which means excitement and buck which means money My best bang theory is that for companies to take advantage of and benefit from a best bang for the buck strategy they must approach it from a position of strength and knowledge not by shooting from the hip another idiom They need to analyze market segments and saturation levels degree of reach penetration and cost and make a decision that very logically will deliver the best bang for the buck Analyzing marketing segments Understanding your market position is an important step in the process Know where you have the greatest growth potential it could be through new customer acquisition but it could also be through current customer relationships Is there potential to grow market share Which markets and or products provide the greatest profit margin Your bang for the buck will be determined based on the degree of opportunity and profit growth Degree of reach You should have a marketing plan with strategies for how you will grow your business within select markets If you dont get one Analyze each marketing tactic based on the degree of reach within the potential prospect base A trade show for example may be a great marketing strategy but it may only reach 10 percent of the market those who attend that show That does not make it a bad marketing tactic My point is that you should know what your degree of reach is for every marketing dollar spent You should be able to look objectively at the cost per thousand of prospects reached If you do this you will have a better sense of which tactics deliver the best bang for the buck The penetration factor Meaningful market penetration is necessary in order to assure your marketing message is heard by the prospects who have a need that you have provided sufficient opportunity to gain purchase consideration and that prospects respond Marketing penetration can be determined by the probability of frequency of messaging needed to elicit a response Not all marketing tactics require the same level of frequency so it is important to understand best practices for each Ultimately your goal is to reach an adequate level of market penetration to optimize results So your bang for the buck strategy and consideration needs to address degree of penetration within chosen markets Oh yeah the buck Underspending can be as ineffective as not spending at all And if there is no committed marketing strategy you spend a little here and there try this or that and in the end have very little results You sum it up to marketing just doesnt work I couldnt disagree more What doesnt work is the approach So when factoring in the above points you should be able to delineate what you can do to get the best bang for the buck Just make sure you are spending enough to get adequate results You dont want to be pennywise and pound foolish yes another idiom The best bang theory Starting from a position of strength makes sense when you really think about it The smarter you are about your market position the greater results you should see from your marketing investment Take an assessment of how effective you think your current marketing program is Is it 50 percent effective 25 percent effective or 75 percent effective If you could increase that percentage and put that money to work in smarter ways how long would it take for you to make that change Invest in developing a strategic marketing plan that defines your companys market position and maps out a strategy for how you best compete and how you are going to increase market share Thats my best bang theory KELLY BORTH is CEO and chief strategy officer for Greencrest a 21 year old brand development strategic marketing and digital media firm that turns market players into market leaders Borth has received numerous honors for her business and community leadership She serves on several local advisory boards and is one of 30 certified brand strategists in the United States Reach her at 614 885 7921 kborth@ greencrest com or @ brandpro For more information visit www greencrest com Kelly Borth Click or scan to read more columns by Kelly Borth Ignite Your Business